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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: face · mine · pound · band · fan · clip · calf · wave

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. pound — a weight
  4. clip — for paper
  5. face — to confront
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. clip — to cut
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. face — to point toward
  15. band — a music group
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. clip — a video
  19. band — a ring
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. face — part of the head
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. pound — for dogs

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com